Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 March 2018
566. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 485 of 5 December 2017, the reason local authority representatives as office holders and not employees of local authorities are not entitled to family income support; her plans to address this issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11088/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Working Family Payment (WFP) is an in-work support that provides an income top-up for employees on low earnings. WFP is designed to prevent in-work poverty for low paid workers with child dependants and to offer a financial incentive to take-up employment.
There are currently almost 57,700 families with more than 129,000 children in receipt of the WFP. The estimated spend on WFP this year is approximately €431 million.
The legislative basis for the scheme provides that to qualify for WFP a person must:
a) be engaged in remunerative full-time employment as an employee which is expected to last for at least 3 months;
b) be working for a minimum of 38 hours per fortnight or 19 hours per week; and
c) have a qualified child/children who normally resides with them or is supported by them.
A couple may combine their hours of employment to meet the qualification criteria. Furthermore, the average family income must be below a specified amount, which varies according to the number of qualified children in the family.
Elected members of local authorities (better known as ‘councillors’) are office holders. They are not local authority employees and therefore do not qualify for WFP on foot of their role as county councillors. However, a councillor who is otherwise engaged in remunerative full-time employment may qualify for WFP, subject to meeting the criteria outlined above. It is also possible for the household of a County Councillor to receive a WFP payment where the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of the County Councillor meets the qualifying criteria. I have no plans to extend the WFP to the role of officeholders, as distinct from employees.
The status of county councillors and the question of their remuneration is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Community, Planning and Local Government. I understand that there are a range of financial supports in place to assist councillors in their work, including a representational payment worth €16,891 per annum, fixed annual expenses allowances, travel and subsistence allowances, a mobile phone allowance, a retirement gratuity, and conference and training provisions.
